Participants: Twenty-two rugby and 2 soccer players with chronic groin pain that prevented full sports participation and who were non-responsive both to therapy and to a graded reintroduction into sports activity.

Intervention: Monthly injection of 12.5% dextrose and 0.5% lidocaine in thigh adductor origins, suprapubic abdominal insertions, and symphysis pubis, depending on palpation tenderness. Injections were given until complete resolution of pain or lack of improvement for 2 consecutive treatments.

Main Outcome Measures: Visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain with sports and the Nirschl Pain Phase Scale (NPPS), a measure of functional impairment from pain.

Results: The final data collection point was 6-32 months after treatment (mean, 17mo). A mean of 2.8 treatments were given. The mean reduction in pain during sports , as measured by the VAS, improved from 6.3 +/- 1.4 to 1.0 +/- 2.4 (P < .001), and the mean reduction NPPS score improved from 5.3 +/- 0.7 to 0.8 +/- 1.9 (P < .001). Twenty of 24 patients had no pain and 22 of 24 were unrestricted with sports at final data collection.

Conclusions: Dextrose prolotherapy showed marked efficacy for chronic groin pain in this group of elite rugby and soccer athletes.